It is remarkable how Ike has reorganized in the last 12 hours or so. Thankfully, it has not had time to reconsolidate the wind field, which is still very large and broad. Surface winds (based on SFMR and dropsondes) remain lower than you might expect given the flight-level winds, which is keeping Ike below cat 3 status. Whether or not Ike makes cat 3 before landfall is strictly academic at this point.

Ike continues to wobble toward the coast. It wobbled a bit to the north a little earlier and the center now appears headed toward the city of Galveston proper, on the north side of Galveston island. Any further movement to the north would probably be a good thing, but much of the damage is already done at this point.